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HTC Announces Vive Tracker, Deluxe Audio Strap Price, Financing, and Release Dates

Vive owners may want to mark down these dates on their calendars.

Asif Khan

February 27, 2017 1:45 AM

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HTC made several big announcements this morning to kick off GDC 2017 and MWC 2017 with a bang. HTC Vive Tracker and the Vive Deluxe Audio Strap will both be available for $99.99 (€119.99, £99.99, ¥799.00). HTC also announced a new financing program for Vive purchasers along with a permanent upgrade to the HTC Vive Business Edition (BE). Alll new BE purchases will include the Deluxe Audio Strap with no price increase ($1200).

Vive Tracker will be available to order for developers on March 27 for $99.99. New tracker implementations will be shown this week at GDC and MWC.  The Vive Deluxe Audio Strap, adding integrated audio and comfort features to extend your Vive session, will be available for pre-order on May 2nd for $99.99 with general availability in June.

“We see an incredibly strong future for VR, and have created an entire ecosystem around Vive. The Vive ecosystem is evolving, adaptable and will continue to grow to drive the industry forward," said Daniel O’Brien, GM VR, US, HTC Vive. “The Vive Tracker is a key piece of that strategy and when paired with Vive technology and programs such as Viveport and Vive X, represents a significant opportunity for us and our partners to make the Vive ecosystem synonymous with the growth of VR." HTC went on to announce that Vive has already received over 2,300 applications for the first 1,000 Vive Trackers. Applications crossed a wide spectrum of non-gaming applications of VR areas such as Education, Enterprise, Training, Health and Wellness and more. In fact, nearly 60% of applications were non-gaming or non-entertainment content.  

"Building an object that can be tracked alongside the Vive can be complex," said Joe Ludwig of Valve. "But the Vive tracker makes tracking objects in VR so simple that anyone can do it. We're thrilled that HTC has developed this product and we’re looking forward to seeing what people build."

The Vive Tracker will be available for purchase in two phases. The Vive Tracker will first be on sale for those looking to create Vive content by March 27. General consumer availability of the Vive Tracker is expected later in the year, as the accessories and content ecosystem for Vive Tracker is built and new accessories are ready to purchase for consumers.

Island 359 developer, CloudGate Studio is just one of the early adopters of the Vive Tracker. CloudGate is using multiple Trackers for full body awareness of players within their action-shooter Island 359. The technology will be on display at GDC in Valve's booth on Wednesday, March 1. 

"We’ve been experimenting with full body motion control since we first got our hands on the Vive, but it was never quite right,” said Steve Bowler, President of CloudGate Studio. “Using the Vive Trackers we’ve been able to push the limits of VR and create our Virtual Self system, which lets players see and use their full body in VR. You can now comfortably kick objects, see yourself crouching, and even lie prone with one-to-one accuracy in ‘Island 359.’”

New financing options for Vive are available in North America through Vive.com and China through JD.com. These new offers reduce the upfront costs when purchasing a Vive. Similar programs run at selected retailers in Europe, with further plans to be announced soon.

The new financing options for North America and China are available today at various monthly price points depending on the financing term.

For North America:
0% Financing for 6 months for a total monthly cost of $138.00 (plus tax and shipping)
0% Financing for 12 months for a total monthly cost of $66.58 (plus tax and shipping)
7.99% Financing for 24 months for a total monthly cost of $40.13 (plus tax and shipping)

For China:
0% Financing for 3 months for a total monthly cost of ¥2,296 (tax and shipping included)
0% Financing for 6 months for a total monthly cost of ¥1,148 (tax and shipping included)
0% Financing for 12 months for a total monthly cost of ¥574 (tax and shipping included)

Shipping and tax for financing vary by destination address.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.